Not My Dharma

I get rather irritated when I see the Buddhadharma watered down and bent into odd shapes to suit the comfort of older upper and upper-middle class straight, cis, able-bodied folk. Samsara is reduced to butt itches and knee scrapes, and karma tiptoes dangerously close to New Age, Law of Attraction bullshit. That’s not my dharma!

I’m irritated, but also tired and frustrated, because I realize that Tibetan Buddhism especially would not survive in the West had it not adopted these shiny, sparkly pretenses of love and light. The Law of Attraction is not karma. It took more than butt itches and knee scrapes to make Tibetan holy men become disgusted with samsara. That wasn’t their dharma!

The kyriarchy is samsara in its most blatant, life-destroying form. It is disgusting that Buddhism in the West is unwelcoming to those who need it most. That is not dharma. Period.